Preserving food.



F. L. RANDEL.

FRI-SERVING FOOD: APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, 1912.

1,039,802. Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

I ran/f fianak imme/sow ammo a UNITED sTAirEs PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK L. RANDEL, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PRESERVING FOOD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. RANDEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improven'iel'its in Ireserving Food, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to preserving food; and it comprises a process of preserving food in sealed containers whereby sterilization of food by heat in a container simultaneously effects the formation of a permanent sealing away" of such food against contamination, the food for the present purposes being packed in a metal container.

.having crimped joints removed from con.-

tact with such foods, said crimped joints being assembled together with a gasketing and joining composition containing uncured rubber and sufficient sulfur for vulcanization and the assemblage being then submitted to heat sufficient to sterilize or process such food and to convert said gasketing composition into a strong vulcanized rubber layer permanently sealing and uniting said joints; all as more fully here.- inafter set forth and as claimed.

The preserving of food by canning in cans .or tins having soldered joints and a solder seal is objectionable because of the practically unavoidable contact of compositions containing lead with the food. Pure tin is practically unattached by'ordinary foods in the absence of air and the same is true of a good quality of tinned steel; but in the presence of lead (solder contains lead) galvanic couples are apt to form with entry of tin or lead, or both, into the food. The presence of these metals in food is, of course,

highly objectionable. Many efforts have been made to make a can and effect a seal in other Ways than by the use of solder; but in practice they have not sufficed to meet all the many and stringent requirements of a can of food. .In a can of food the joints must be airtight, must impart nothing to the food, must give no action with the tin of the tin plate and must be strong eifough to standthe v rough handling to which canned goods are subjected.

In the present invention I have. devised a cheap, simple and ready method. of accomplishing the desired ends in which the processing to sterilize the food simultaneously makes a permanent seal in various joints of the container. Having a can body, which v Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 2, 1912.

Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

Serial No. 694,633.

may be cylindrical and built of a sheet of tin plate bent into form with the edges crimped together and solder united (this solder being'wholly out of contact with the interior), I may assemble it with a bottom platehaving a groove in which the edges of the can fit, this groove containing a particular composition, crimp the edges of the bottom into place with the body-edge, fill the can with the desired food, such as corn, fruit, tomatoes, etc, assemble with the filled can in the. same manner a grooved cover containing a similar composition, and proc ess the whole. In'the processing, the composition is changed ,into a hard, strong permanent form and the sealis made by the same heat that serves for sterilization or cooking. The sealing material employed for this purpose should be unvulcanized rubber brought into fluent form with a suitable volatile, solvent and carrying in suspension the sulfur orother vulcanizing agent necessary to vulcanize the rubber under the heat employed subsequently in processing. 'The uncured or raw rubber must be brought into solution or fluent form wit-h a suitable volatile solvent. Most of these rubber solvents, like carbon tetrachlorid, chloroform, benzol, carbon bisulfid, etc., possess an offensive or unpleasant odor but they are removed in the present process prior to the assemblage of the can elements. In addition to the suspended vulcanizing material, the rubber solution or varnish may also, and advantageously, carry a filler, or bonding agent, such as magnesia or powdered asbestos. Asbestos is particularly advantageous for the present purposes. Pigment ordye may be used in connection with the composition. This is useful as'making the sealing composition of a distinctive a color. I

In the operation of the present process, the grooved cover and thegrooved baseare both providedwith a layer of such a composition in their respective grooves and are dried at a gentle heat; a heatsufiicient to expotential vulcanizing agent asa thin plastic film in and adhering to the groove, but not sufficient to effect any substantial vulcanization. The body is now placed with a' flanged edge in and sealed by this film of the bottom, and the bottom is then crimped'up in such a manneras to bring the groove union on the exterlor of pel the solvent and leave the composition of uncured rubbei an flizes the food and convertsor vulcanizes the steam heated or processed in the usual way.

In this processing, the heat, at least at the exterior of the can',"should'be enough to vulcanize the rubber; say, 120 C., or over.

- Admission to the processing apparatus of steam under 45 pounds pressure works well. The processing heat simultaneously steri-- rubber and sulfur into cured rubber of any hardness desired; and this cured rubber unites the joints with an air-'tight,.mechanically strong seal. There is, of -cou'rse, noth- 'ing'volatile in the composition prior or subsequent to processing. which can give up anything to the food or contaminate it in any way, the volatile solvents having been previously expelled; neither can the composition aflect thetin in any Way. .Sulfur has an action upon tin, but in the described method there is no opportunity for the sul-' fun to react with the tin-of the coating prior to the vulcanization and subsequent to the vulcanization thesulfur is not free. Andasthe vulcanization is effected subsequentto the contact of-the rubber with'the. metal surfaces to be sealed while the rubber is softand plastic, the union is absolutely tight and permanent. v

It is necessary in the practice of the present invention that the described procedure be followed, since if the vulcanization of the rubber be completed prior to' the assem blage of the can parts (asby usin Vulcan-- lzed rubber rings or layers) the um 11 is not 'suflicient for a good seal and moreoversulfur, and particularly if present in the large excess usual in vulcanized rubber goods, will be volatilized during processing and may attack the tin, forming tin sulfids which are in turn attacked'by some moist foods. 7

While the composition ihay be varied to a large extent so long as it possesses-the characteristics described, it should always comprise rubber, or equivalent vulcanizable I'naterial (rubber substitutes) in an uncuredstate together with just enough sulfur to eflect complete, or substantially complete, vulcanization, at the described processing heat. vAnd there should be enough volatile solvent to allow the preliminary application of the ,composition asa fluent film or var- -1-.L I 111311' or cement layer in the cover seam .or

groove. A good fluent conipositiw i present purposes may'contain abo t3 to 10 percent. good quality raw rubber, plantation or Ceylon rubber being best as being freest ofvolatile impurities which might give a taste to the food. It may also contain 3 to 10 per cent. of filler which may be magnesium .carbonate or powdered -asbestos.

About 0.5 to' 2 per cent. pigment may be employed as it is advantageous in o eration to have the film contrast well in colbr with the tinto which it is applied. Sus ended in the composition should be free su fur in amount about equivalent to 5 to 15 per cent. of the amount of rubber employed; the amount of sulfur diflering somewhat with the particular rubber and with the temperature which is to be employed inprocessing, which is, of course, in the present invention also the vulcanizing temperature. The rest of the composition may be volatile solvent. Benzol is well suited. For example, a good composition for the present purposes suitable for processing corn (which requires a comparatively high long heating) may be made by dissolving 150 pounds of good plantation raw rubber in 2000 pounds of benzol and working in 7 pounds of sulfur, 100 pounds of powdered asbestos and 5 pounds of iron red pigment.

' The can body may of course be united with the base in any other way which avoids contact of solder with the can contents; but it is convenient to'use the same method of union for the base as is employed with the top. 1

v In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated, more or. less diagrammatically, certain stages of the present process.

In this showing :Figure l is a fragmentary view of a bottom or top showing the composition in place; Fig. 2 is a similar. view showing the-composition after drying and ready for application; Fig. 3 is a similarview showing the elements of Fig. 2 assembled and ready for! seaming together; I

completed food package.

In the showing of Fig. 1, element 1 is a can cover or bottom provided with a lateral flange 2 having an ear 3. Within this is a layer 4 of fluent "rubber composition, ready for drying down. In Fig. 2 ,rthis layer has beenconverted by loss of solvent into a thin adhering film 5 (shown for the purposes of illustration as of exaggerated relative thickness). Shown above the can cover or bot tom, is illustrated a cylindrical can body 6 having a lateral flange 7. In Fig. 3, the elements are shown assembled. It will be noted that the rubber film stops at a point remote from the interior of the can. In Fig. 4, the

flange of the bottom is shown seamed over thebody flange; in, Fig. 5 the seaming is carried further, and in Fig. 6, it ill be seen that the two flanges have been converted into What I claim is j 1. In the preservation of food by sterilization in closed containers, the process Which comprises filling a canwith food to be sterilized at a given temperature, closing the can by applying a top carrying an adhering film like sealing layer comprising raw rubber and a vulcanizing agent, such composition being one Which Will vulcanize at said sterilizing temperature, and heating to said temperature to sterilize the food and vulcanize said Sealing layer.

2. In the preservation of food by sterilization in closed containers, the process which comprises filling a can With food to be sterilized at a given temperature, preparing a top having a can-engaging surface by applying to said surface a layer of fluent composition comprising raw rubber, a volatile solvent and a vulcanizing agent, the proportion of raw rubber to vulcanizing agent being such as will give an inert and permanent vulcanized rubber at said temperature, and driving off the solvent by a gentle, nonvulcanizing heat to form a vulcanizable sealing layer, closing the'can by applying said top tion in closed containers, the process Which comprises preparing a can bottom and can top having can body-engaging surfaces by applying to said surfaces layers of a fluent composition comprising-volatile rubber solvent, raw rubber and suflicientvulcanizing agent to vulcanize said rubber in the subsequent sterilization, driving ofl the volatile solvent by a gentle non-vulcanizing heat to form, sealing vulcanizable layers, applying the can body to the bottom, filling the can with the food, applying the top and heating the assemblage to a temperature suflicient to sterilize the food-and vulcanize the sealing layers.

Intestimony whereof, I afiix my signature inthe presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

FRANK L. RANDEL. Witnesses H. O. G1 IUTE,. w MARION L. LARMER. 

